Free Hidden in the Shadows by T. L. Haddix Page B

Ethan a quick, warm smile, then picked up one of the markers and started writing. “Aside from the fact that you all have blackmail-worthy secrets, it’s not age, sex, or marital status. What about religion?”
    Wyatt shrugged. “The reverend was Baptist. Vestra’s a lapsed Catholic the last I knew. I don’t have a spiritual affiliation, but I was raised Methodist, and I don’t know about Raven.”
    “I’m not sure about Raven, either, but I can ask. So that means the connection is probably not your beliefs.” She marked religion off the list. “What about the other obvious crossovers? Doctors, dentists, attorneys?”
    After naming his contacts, Wyatt said, “We’ll have to ask the other targets.”
    “I’d include your sister-in-law in that list, if I were you,” Ethan suggested. “If she did help Julie commit suicide, she may have told someone over the years. A confidant, a therapist. That’s a heavy burden to have to carry for so long.”
    “Tell me about it.” Wyatt glanced at Maria, who had been unusually quiet. “You haven’t said much.”
    She sighed. “Aren’t we forgetting one of the first rules you detectives usually use? Follow the money. Given the amounts the extortionist asks for, and how well he’s done his homework as far as the accuracy of the secrets goes, doesn’t it also stand to reason that he’s been that careful in picking his victims? Because he knows they can pay him? Who would have that knowledge?”
    Stacy nodded. “She’s absolutely right. Keep it simple. Who knows the state of your finances, Wyatt?”
    “Anyone where I bank, my financial advisor, my attorney.”
    “What about your tax person or an accountant?” Beth asked.
    “No, I do my own taxes and bookkeeping. When I’m involved in an election, I hire someone, but that’s just for the campaign. Not my personal finances.” He gave her the names of the people he used. “Ethan, I’m going to put you on tracking down the loose ends on my letter, since we discussed it in detail last night. Also, touch base with Raven Lynch, and keep Beth in that loop, if you don’t mind. He might not want to talk to you about it alone. Stacy, you stay with the reverend.”
    “Will do. Are you taking Vestra, then?”
    He grimaced. “For all the good it will do me. Maria, I’d like to have you act as our central depository. Keep working the forum angle.” He gestured around the table. “I want all of you to go to Maria with what you find. Maria, can you dump the information into some kind of sortable database?”
    “Absolutely,” she assured him.
    “Good. Then I’m going to head out, unless you all have any more questions?” When they all shook their heads, he saluted them and left.
    For a minute after he closed the door behind him, there was silence in the room, as though no one was willing to voice their thoughts.
    Finally, Stacy spoke, her distress obvious. “How in God’s name are we going to protect him?”
    Maria’s throat was tight as she answered, “We’re going to find the SOB who’s doing this and stop him. And I’d advise us to pray… hard.”
    “There’s no way this will end well, is there?” Beth asked.
    Ethan walked to where she stood and pulled her in for a hug. “No, I very much doubt it.”

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Fifteen
     
    If he could have gotten away with it, Wyatt would have been perfectly happy never to see his former sister-in-law again. He and Marsha had never been close, even in the early days when his marriage to Julie hadn’t been strained. Marsha’s attitude toward him had always been a little cool, and as his relationship with her sister deteriorated, she became positively frigid.
    He pulled his vehicle into her driveway and sat there, looking at the house. Wyatt had kept up with Marsha through the grapevine, and he knew that her marriage had ended in divorce a couple of years earlier. The last six years hadn’t been easy on her.
    With reluctance, he got out of his car